Asheville-based Skyrunner Internet, the grant recipient, will expand service in the North and South Turkey Creek, Fairview Forest, Reems Creek and Ox Creek neighborhoods. The county will chip in an additional $500,000 to the project from its federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.
The red-clad advocates filled the commission chambers and two overflow rooms, with about 25 speaking during the county’s budget hearing. They said the 10.3% increase for both Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Schools in the proposed $423.6 million fiscal year 2023-24 budget was far below the level needed to meet local education’s needs.
“If I don’t have the resources I need, I can’t do [the kids] justice. It’s impossible. I’ve tried to twist myself and do educational yoga for the last 20 years. And I can only do it so much longer,” says Matthew Leggat, a sixth-grade teacher at Montford North Star Academy.
The board will consider authorizing a public hearing for Tuesday, May 2, on a one-year moratorium on cryptocurrency mines.
Buncombe County Board of Commissioners Chair Brownie Newman lists land use policy as a top priority for the new commission, sworn in on Dec. 7. Board members will likely revisit the county’s land use plan, a document originally developed in 1998 and last updated in 2013, in response to rapid community growth.
